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Where & Why Are
Canadian Musicians
Purchasing
Their Gear ?
OUR 2021 GEAR PURCHASING SURVEY
By Ahmed Haroon
In
partnership with its sister magazine , Canadian Musician , Canadian Music Trade surveyed nearly 100 musicians from across Canada to better understand their music-related purchasing decisions before and during the pandemic . We were able to compile a broad range of responses .
From which of the following product groups do you regularly purchase gear or accessories ?
Guitar ............................................. 24 % Piano / Keyboards ............................... 9 % Bass Guitar ...................................... 11 % Drums / Percussion ............................. 7 % Brass / Strings / Woodwinds .................. 1 % Recording Software & Gear ............. 21 % Vocals .............................................. 11 % Live Sound ...................................... 11 % DJ Equipment ................................... 2 % Other ................................................ 4 %
It was a little surprising to see a plurality of musicians who responded say their musicrelated buying habits stayed pretty much the same during the pandemic . That said , a third of people did report buying less gear / accessories during the pandemic , while nearly 1 / 5 actually purchased more . Prior to the spread of COVID , 56 % of the respondents purchased music equipment a few times a year , while 17 % would buy something on a monthly basis , followed by another 17 % who ’ d only purchase music equipment annually . It is worth noting for the same group of people , 45 % also said their purchasing habits remained the same during the height of the pandemic , while 36 % declared they bought less accessories or musical equipment off the internet .
Pre-pandemic , how often did you purchase instruments and / or accessories on average ?
Weekly .............................................. 1 % Monthly .......................................... 17 % Few times a year .............................. 56 % Yearly .............................................. 17 % Less often .......................................... 9 %
Over the course of the pandemic , has the regularity of your musicrelated purchases changed ?
Yes , I ’ ve been buying more gear and / or accessories ....................................... 19 % Yes , I ’ ve been buying less gear and / or accessories ....................................... 36 % No , my purchasing stayed pretty much the same ............................................... 45 %
One note-worthy thing from our surveys that really stood out was the idea of shopping locally and supporting local music retailers . It was humbling to see a majority of people supported the idea of deliberately shopping locally when many retail outlets have been collapsing under the weight of lockdowns and sky-high overheads . A good majority of respondents indicated that they ’ re either consciously trying to shop local more often or already did . Though when asked whether they ’ d shopped online , 18 % said they were shopping more from large ecommerce sites like Amazon .
During the pandemic , have you shopped online more for instruments , gear , and / or accessories ?
Yes , I ’ ve shopped more on large e-commerce sites ( e . g . Amazon ) ......................... 18 % Yes , I ’ ve shopped more on music stores ’ websites ( e . g . Long & McQuade ’ s website ) ....................................................... 36 % Yes , I ’ ve been doing more shopping for used gear online ( e . g . eBay or Reverb . com ) ....................................................... 20 % No , my music shopping habits haven ’ t changed ......................................... 26 %
During the pandemic , have you made a conscious effort to shop more from local music retailers ? Yes , very much ................................ 35 %
64 CANADIAN MUSIC TRADE